The British summer: keep your wellies ready

FLASH flood . . . Sammy Jo Postill (left) and Rachael Myatt examine the effects of the rainfall

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THIS month has been the wettest July since 1998 and experts predict there’s worse to come.

Chronicle weatherman Damian Rodgers recorded 61/2ins of rainfall since July 1 — more than double the usual monthly average of 2.8ins.

Rain has fallen for 24 days out of 31 — a lot higher than the average of 13.

Oldham was deluged by torrential rain along with thunder and lightning yesterday causing flash floods in parts of the borough.

Last July, Oldhamers basked in temperatures of up to 29C (84F) — a stark contrast to this July’s average of 15C (59F).

The heavy rain is causing havoc across the country with many seaside resorts losing trade as holidaymakers stay at home.

Met Office forecaster Chris Almond said: “For the past few years, we’ve been spoilt weatherwise and have got used to above-average temperatures. Even this summer is set to have above average warmth. My advice is to keep your wellies to hand because, apart from a few nice days, there is no immediate sign of anything decent in the future.”

Damian added: “We have had a very wet July — certainly not the barbecue summer predicted by the Met Office.

“Unfortunately, there are no signs of improvement, at least not for the first half of August. After that it’s very hard to tell. “There is no easy explanation as to why it’s been so miserable — the storms are always there but during our summertime the jet streams are usually further north so we are not as badly affected.”

The miserable outlook is in stark contrast to an earlier long-range forecast when experts predicted a heatwave throughout August.